1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of automotive accessories, and in particular relates to decorative wheel coverings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Decorative wheel coverings are well known to the art and are available with a large number of varying patterns and designs. Generally, decorative wheel coverings differ only in the manner in which they are attached to the wheel hub or in the design which they incorporate, and typically will incorporate a single design or pattern which is unalterable.
To allow a degree of variability of design, coverings have been devised which allow for the incorporation of an ornamental insert into the wheel covering. For example, Lyon, "Ornamental Insert for Wheel Structure", U.S. Pat. No. 2,629,957 shows a center, mini-hubcap which is inserted into the center of the wheel covering to allow each wheel covering to include a badge carrying the trademark or emblem of a specific automobile manufacturer.
In addition to center badges or emblems disposed in a wheel covering, prior art designs have been devised which allow for a degree of interchangeability of trim on a wheel covering by permitting the attachment of ornamental plates on top of the wheel covering, see for example Golze, "Vehicle Wheel Trim", U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,700. In addition, a device has been made where an ornamental plate is centrally fastened to a wheel covering to provide an overlay contrasting in color or texture to the underlying decorative cover, see for example Spisak, "Plastic and Metal Wheel Trim Assembly", U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,685.
However, each of the prior art designs suffer from the defect that the ornamental design is essentially unalterable or alterable only to the extent that additional ornamental parts can only be inserted as a central emblem or attached as an overlay to a single, underlying and pre-existing ornamental pattern incorporated in the wheel covering. What is needed is a means whereby the wheel covering itself may be designed to allow for a multiplicity of arbitrarily devised ornamental patterns according to the desire of the user, and devised in such a manner that the patterns may be arbitrarily created by the user without any need for special skills or tools.